MK Liberal Democrat website. Listening, Caring, Working. Learn more
by Douglas McCall on 25 March, 2019
The Milton Keynes Liberal Democrat Manifesto for the local elections, “Demand Better for Milton Keynes”, is launched today.
Our Key Priorities for 2019/20
• Action to tackle child poverty
• Action to reduce levels of litter
• Protection for the most vulnerable from Tory austerity cuts
• Support for the homeless to help them off the streets
• Action to build more affordable homes to buy and rent
• Protection for our bus services
• Protection for our environment
• Maintenance of our roads, redways, pavements and street lights
• Maintenance of our drains to reduce flooding
• support for our senior citizens to live independently.
The full manifesto is below. It can also be downloaded in full as a PDF by clicking here.
The Liberal Democrats are vital for Milton Keynes. From 2002 to 2011 when we ran MK Council we transformed MK for the better. We made the council work for residents by improving vital services for the most vulnerable. We supported buses and their use increased, empowering residents and helping keep traffic off the roads. We helped all in MK take more pride in our area by taking actions such as creating the graffiti buster teams and ensuring derelict cars were removed quickly. We transformed recycling in MK, improving rates from 11% when we took over to 55% in 2011, those rates stagnating since in the years the Tories or Labour have led the council. Recycling rates are now expected to increase again with the launch of the Waste Recovery Park, an innovation planned under the last Lib Dem led council in MK.
We are the only party in the last 20 to have majority control in MK, running MK in more of the last 20 years than any other party! With Tories or Labour having minority control of MK since 2011 our councillors have played an essential role on the council, holding the other two parties to account and ensuring the best for residents in MK.
Much of MK Council’s progress to help the homeless off the streets of MK in recent years has been from the hard work and ideas of Lib Dem councillors.
Our party continues to put the interests of residents and communities first and foremost, defending the most vulnerable in society and ensuring the council works for residents. We are enthusiastic and optimistic for Milton Keynes and continue to believe that MK can be the city of the future. We will fight for enough good homes for all now growing up in MK, for new strategic projects such as a new university and a mass public transport system, while caring for the interests of existing urban and rural residents by ensuring any new developments are well planned with good infrastructure at their heart.
Our Key Priorities for 2019/20 Liberal Democrats Demand Better • Action to tackle child poverty • Action to reduce levels of litter • Protection for the most vulnerable from Tory austerity cuts • Support for the homeless to help them off the streets • Action to build more affordable homes to buy and rent • Protection for our bus services • Protection for our environment • Maintenance of our roads, redways, pavements and street lights • Maintenance of our drains to reduce flooding • support for our senior citizens to live independently. |
We will always demand better
for Milton Keynes.
Over the last few years the Liberal Democrats have engaged with others to ensure the best for Milton Keynes, including helping change council policy for the benefit for residents. Some of our Lib Dem successes are below.
Milton Keynes is a great place to live and to bring up children, so our birth rate is above the national average – and we are living longer than we were, so our population is rising. Our economy is booming, so, even though almost all local people are employed, we still attract workers from outside – and when they get here, they want to live here! So we are growing – and growing fast.
By 2050 we estimate that our population will be 450-500,000 people. And that means our children will need a lot more places to live, work, go to school, receive healthcare, etc. And for the cultural life that goes with a big city.
We believe that planned growth, planning the infrastructure
along with the homes and jobs, is what has made MK successful, so Liberal
Democrats are planning for that growth. We want to “make a great city greater”-
and that means strong local policies to make sure that the growth keeps MK
special. Liberal Democrats have been
involved in the current Plan:MK, and are working on plans for MK2050 to secure
the infrastructure we will need. The first stage of the 2050 process will come
out for public consultation later this year.
Life in MK is not great for all right now. For many people, rising housing costs are a nightmare, forcing them into poverty. For others, total lack of housing means a life on the streets or in temporary accommodation. Our low-density city, with poor public transport means they can’t get to jobs, services and leisure activities.
And poor access to healthy food, our obsession with the car, and insufficient exercise means too many suffer from obesity, leading to massive impacts on their quality of life from diabetes and heart trouble. The stress involved leads too many to turn to smoking, alcohol or other addictions, which in turn lead to poor health, finances, and ultimately homelessness.
In particular, this is affecting our children. 25% currently live in poverty. Obesity among children is rising to dangerous levels. Hundreds of children live in temporary accommodation, unable to maintain friendships, stable schooling and healthcare, and generally to feel part of their communities. And thousands are living in overcrowded accommodation. We MUST demand better.
In the pages that follow, we outline priorities to help with
the housing crisis, support those on the lowest incomes, help both children and
adults with mental health problems and reduce obesity. Together those policies
can have a serious impact on our children’s future. They would be much easier
to implement if our Government would take children’s future seriously. Liberal
Democrats continue to work at all levels to demand better for our children.
Having good and affordable homes for all residents is essential to making sure people have stability in life. Milton Keynes is a great place to bring up children, so every generation is larger than the previous one. MK has successfully attracted more businesses and employers, and more jobs have attracted more people to Milton Keynes. While our population has been increasing, not enough homes have been built so that many families in Milton Keynes are living in overcrowded accommodation or ‘sofa surfing’ between friends and family; there is a hidden homeless crisis in addition to the visible homelessness we have seen on our streets over the last few years.
The housing crisis in MK worsens other problems including being a source of much of the poverty in our area. Rough sleeping reached record levels. Many children are being brought up in poverty because of the cost of housing, and where families are forced to move regularly it can seriously damage children’s education, ability to make friends and build personal confidence. We are demanding that MK has more housing, the right housing for its needs, at prices residents can afford, and to a decent standard fit for the future.
Homelessness devastates lives. Thanks to improvements Lib Dems pushed for over 100 rough sleepers are now in permanent accommodation, but there is more to be done to help rough sleepers and to prevent homelessness. For those who are homeless, proper temporary housing should be available in Milton Keynes: it is not good enough to house people miles away or in B&Bs. Milton Keynes must be a place where people have a safe, secure place to live.
Our party supports the plan to regenerate some of our older estates where the process involves and is supported by those local communities. We have led scrutiny of the regeneration process and welcome the administration’s commitments to implement more transparent and consultative processes in the future.
We support moves to widen the scope of the regeneration
plans, recognising that needs such as improved access to health care information,
or healthy food, local employment and training, etc. can be just as important
as housing. We also support the
recognition that demolition is not the only option for improving housing, but
continue to support demolition where the local benefit warrants it and local
residents opt for it.
We believe that the managed environment should be safe for our residents, landscaping and road repairs should be carried out properly, and our streets should be cleaned and abandoned cars removed quickly.
Many of our streets have become increasingly run down. When the Liberal Democrats last ran the Council we tackled environmental neglect by such initiatives as introducing the Graffiti Busters and removing abandoned cars quickly. We would once again look at ways of tackling environmental neglect, such as making the cleansing service more flexible, enabling areas with more frequent problems to receive an adequate service.
Milton Keynes is suffering from increasing neglect, and there must be a change to fix the issues which have been worsening while the Conservatives and then Labour have been running the council. We demand better for the removal of weeds and plants in and near paths and roads, since these can both make paths and roads less safe, and can cause avoidable long term damage to our infrastructure. Litter and dog mess are hazardous to children, pets and wildlife.
In 2018 the Liberal Democrats had success changing the pothole policy about depth and size to ensure the council repaired more potholes.
We will continue to work to improve our management of water and rivers to reduce water consumption and protect MK from flooding, and make sure that that good Flood & Water Strategy is implemented.
The environment is very important to us, which is why in the 9 years that MK Council was Lib Dem controlled between 2002 and 2011 proper investment was put in and recycling rates increased from 11% to 55%! At that time we also made sure that all recycling waste from MK is processed as locally as possible in the UK, which is better than many other councils which send their waste around the world to China to be processed.
Liberal Democrats are passionate supporters of campaigns to reduce waste, including the elimination of single use plastics. Our party will continue to lead efforts in MK Council to reduce waste, and for good support and communication to go to the public and local organisations to reduce the environmental impact in Milton Keynes.
We will continue to fight to maintain Milton Keynes at the innovative edge of recycling and aim to continually increase MK’s recycling rates. Much of the improvement in recycling rates delivered when the Liberal Democrats last ran MK Council was by making it easier for residents to recycle correctly, and we will campaign for a good system that residents can use.
We will get a grip on Labour’s failed policy for the delivery of replacement recycling sacks.
We continue to defend public transport as it is essential for those without access to a car, the elderly, young, and the low paid. Early morning, evening and weekend services are essential for the low paid to work 7 days a week. But beyond that, a move to more use of public transport, and cleaner public transport, is essential if we are to reduce congestion and pollution and carbon use as we grow.
Local government provides vital services for the care of some of the most vulnerable in our communities. We must continue to demand that MK council delivers the best services possible, ensuring teams and organisations work as effectively as possible, and that good systems are in place to ensure teams communicate well and work as efficiently as possible with limited resources
The long term success of Milton Keynes depends on ensuring there is a proper environment for small home grown businesses as well as attracting investment from larger companies.
Alongside employment we will continue to fight for good integrated education at all levels, for lifelong learning, and for a full-time university in Milton Keynes.
We will support the economy by making sure our council uses all powers it can to put in place good infrastructure which encourages inward investment. Long term investment depends on good infrastructure, and we will continue to support and try to improve developments such as the Oxford to Cambridge development arc (with Milton Keynes at the centre) to ensure that any new road and rail links are appropriate to support businesses which may move to Milton Keynes.
As with residential spaces, roads and information links need to be set up correctly. Therefore, we will need to support strategic plans such as Plan:MK to ensure that developments are well thought out for the long-term interests of the residents of Milton Keynes.
Traditionally most local council funding has been from central government grants, council tax providing a smaller share of funding. In the last 8 years central government has cut MK Council’s budget by £145m, resulting in a fall in money for services for residents despite an increase in council tax.
While we call for a change in policy from central government, we will fight for a council budget which is sustainable in the long-term in the face of further cuts expected in the future. This will mean we can avoid a situation like the Tory run Northamptonshire County Council running out of money!
While funding is being cut, the council also needs to look for ways to better spend the resources it has, this includes working alongside other councils for joint services and investing in technology to ensure staff can provide the best services possible in the most efficient ways.
Despite the talk of the end of austerity, Milton Keynes faces ongoing challenges as the Rate Support Grant comes near to an end. We need to maintain the stable situation that two balanced budgets for Milton Keynes Council have created while avoiding any effects on front line services.
Residents need a good system to report issues, which should be as efficient, reliable and transparent as possible to give greater confidence.
We demand the council be compassionate and humane to those who have lost a child. The Government has failed to deliver on their pledge to set up the Child Funeral Fund despite this being promised by the Prime Minister in April 2018. In the interim we will campaign to allocate money for the council to match this pledge, and to not charge for child burials or cremations for those under the age of 16. We will put pressure on the Government to make good their pledge. The Lib Dems will always support those at their time of greatest need.
Our highest priority is to protect the vulnerable from the impact of cuts being imposed by the Tory government in Westminster. We will continue to work with other organisations to support our communities as efficiently as possible.
We will continue to support voluntary sector organisations and charities who work with low-income families to find real, long-term solutions to the plight of our most vulnerable individuals and families. And we will review the use of the short term help funds the Council offers to those in dire need.
As Milton
Keynes Council shrinks with imposed cuts, we would work with the Voluntary
Sector and Parish/Town councils who may be able to take over some services
which may otherwise be cut.
The Liberal Democrats exist to build and safeguard a fair, free and open society, in which we seek to balance the fundamental values of liberty, equality and community, and in which no one shall be enslaved by poverty, ignorance or conformity.
We champion the freedom, dignity and well-being of individuals, we acknowledge and respect their right to freedom of conscience and their right to develop their talents to the full. We aim to disperse power, to foster diversity and to nurture creativity. We believe that the role of the state is to enable all citizens to attain these ideals, to contribute fully to their communities and to take part in the decisions which affect their lives.
We look forward to a world in which all people share the same basic rights, in which they live together in peace and in which their different cultures will be able to develop freely. We believe that each generation is responsible for the fate of our planet and, by safeguarding the balance of nature and the environment, for the long-term continuity of life in all its forms.
Upholding these values of individual and social justice, we reject all prejudice and discrimination based upon race, colour, religion, age, disability, sex or sexual orientation and oppose all forms of entrenched privilege and inequality. Recognising that the quest for freedom and justice can never end, we promote human rights and open government, a sustainable economy which serves genuine need, public services of the highest quality, international action based on a recognition of the interdependence of all the world’s peoples and responsible stewardship of the earth and its resources.
Our responsibility for justice and liberty cannot be confined by national boundaries; we are committed to fight poverty, oppression, hunger, ignorance, disease and aggression wherever they occur and to promote the free movement of ideas, people, goods and services. Setting aside national sovereignty when necessary, we will work with other countries towards an equitable and peaceful international order and a durable system of common security.
2 Comments
My concerns are fot the environment and compassion watchdominion.com
Hi Debbie, we do have a good record on the environment in MK as you’ll see here. https://mklibdems.focusteam.org.uk/2019/04/14/the-environment-in-everything-we-do/#page-content